gps units...the best el cheapo

"BJ Conner" wrote in message
ups.com...
On Apr 4, 2:51 pm, "rb608" wrote:
"Opus--Mark H. Bowen" wrote in message

Or where you last placed it?

Yeah; that too.

Sorta on topic - has anyone else ever tried the geocaching thing? I
found a
few caches close by to see if it was fun. I was actually disappointed.
I
liked the GPS part of navigating to specific coordinates; but the
hide-n-seek part of trying to find some little box hidden within a 30'
radius didn't hold much appeal.

It probably didn't help that a couple were in less than desirable
locations
near dumpsters. Others were nigh impossible. It would probably be more
fun
the more rural the setting; but I haven't had the opportunity for
close-to-home caches.

Joe F.

The original reason I got the Garmin was as a Christmas present from a
well meaning family. They saw it as a hobbie the main squeeze and I
could do together outdoors. We have looked up a haalf dozen of them
so far. For a while if we were going ot the beach or someplace in the
mountains we would download a few and try to find them. Maby thsi
comming summer we'll do some more.
We're not hard core about it, just something to do when were hiking
around. There is a website that list all the geocashes and you can
search by zip code, coordinates or someother way. If you read the
website you'll see some people go about it very intensely.
http://www.geocaching.com/
It was while looking one on the Oregon Coast that we got to the
location and started looking around. I didn't expect the thing to be
that accurate so I started looking around the area. I finally looked
down at my feet and I was within a foot of a 50 Cal ammo box. It was a
brush area and the thing was under some dry grass. The SOP is you
open the box, sign the book, take something our, leave something in.
Then you register your find on the website, tell what you took and
what you left. Not all are things some are views. some are points of
interest and things you may not notice otherwise. Some peole leave
clues in the form of elaborate puzzles and riddles. I don't like to
think that much. . .
Corny I know, but when you want to be outside and the fishing isn't so
good.


when I get one I'll have to keep that in mind. I've still got some of that
dope that killed Elvis...mind be kind of fun to twist up a few and leave
them around the country....

john

"BJ Conner" wrote in message
oups.com...
On Apr 5, 12:46 pm, "Tom Nakashima" wrote:
"BJ Conner" wrote in message

ps.com...





On Apr 4, 8:28 am, "asadi" wrote:
I'm gonna start looking up things about them..

I'm looking mainly to find my way back where I started, and keep track
of
where I find mushrooms...

john

Nest time you go better check the forecast for solar storms as well as
rain/snow etc. Solar storms can play hell with GPS satalites or so it
says here.http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2007/s2831.htm
Better take a map and compass just in case.
There are morels in this part of the world but I have never hunted
them. They have commercial hunters and sometimes things get hostile
in the woods.
When the smelt run I may try of find some. Fried smelt, Morells
fried in butter and a bottle of Resiling. Thats a meal that will
panic any cardiologist.

A few years ago my friends and I were backpacking in the Santa Cruz
mountains and accidentally stumbled across a Cannabis garden.
We thought it best to play safe and quickly leave the area.
-tom- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

A testimonial to the value of the GPS. I have read that some pot
growers are not planting gardens any more. They can space their
plants out and record the position of each. Supposedly they don't
show up as easliy on aerial surveys. Tehy can also put them in clear
cuts and burns where hikers don't like to go.


amateurs.....hydroponics and cloning is state of the art now....

john....why else would they call it the underground?

We set up camp between two sets of traps
and entered the waypoint into the GPS. It was dusk when we
returned and even though the GPS said we were standing right
in the middle of our campsite, we were not. It was just a hundred
yards away but I had a serious anxiety moment for a few minutes
there. It's a mind blower to depend on a piece of equipment like
that and have it fail you.




....and a map and compass would have gotten you closer to the campsite in
yellowstone, how?

gps fail at times...usually battery, water damage, circuitry problems,
or loss. i suppose inadequate satellite fix can also affect it. the
compass and map are a responsible person's backup, but will never be as
accurate or useful as a functioning gps unit, imo. getting within 100
yards of a destination in the woods or on the sea, especially if you've
traveled off for any period of time in varying directions, is pretty
damn good as compared to what will occur in simply charting compass
points and estimating distances. i've walked with folks who tried to do
the compass thing, and that was scary...

in the atlantic gulf stream off nc, there aren't any landmarks. one
could probably find his way to and back from the general area of the big
rock fishing grounds by compass headings, but he'd never know if he was
on the northwest corner without the gps mapping. it's a phenomenal
technology that allows dolts like me to find places in the starkness of
an oceanscape and then get back to home port.

i think the "dither" was in place in 2000...there is still a small
margin of error in reading the garmin units i use, which i attribute to
the maps loaded in them or simply the size/configuration of the icons.

jeff

"asadi" wrote in message
t...

when I get one I'll have to keep that in mind. I've still got some of that
dope that killed Elvis...mind be kind of fun to twist up a few and leave
them around the country....
john

John,
I sold the Magellan Explorist 210 yesterday.
Not sure if they'll be using it for mushrooms, Hoffa Geocaching or
finding secrete gardens.
-tom

"jeff" wrote in message
...

...i've walked with folks who tried to do the compass thing, and that was
scary...

While it would never so much as occur to me to doubt (let alone disparage)
the navigational skills of all the Pathfinders in this august company, it
has been my own experience that a map and compass are, for most people,
handy aids for confirming that you are indeed here while standing in front
of a signboard stating that "you are here."

Wolfgang
who would (assuming the opportunity arose) generally prefer to follow a
chicken on the assumption that it will.....eventually.....cross a road.

"Wolfgang" wrote in news:57mvgkF2dgv8hU1
@mid.individual.net:

of a signboard stating that "you are here."


You might be curious to know that the "you are here" symbols are called
ideolocators!!

--
Scott
Reverse name to reply

"Scott Seidman" wrote in message
. 1.4...
"Wolfgang" wrote in news:57mvgkF2dgv8hU1
@mid.individual.net:

of a signboard stating that "you are here."


You might be curious to know that the "you are here" symbols are called
ideolocators!!

That IS interesting. It never occurred to me that anyone might have
bothered to come up with a name for such things.

Unfortunately, it does nothing at all to help solve the fundamental problem
of locating the damned thing, without which it does no one any good at all.
Nor does it materially affect the fact that most of the time you are
actually somewhere else, thus making the stated assertion not merely
incorrect but also (given that the signmakers KNOW that you will not be
spending your life in that one particular spot) an outright lie. Moreover,
it is also demonstrably true (via photographic evidence, etc.) that most of
the time (virtually ALL of the time) it is actually "someone else!" who is
"here".....yet another layer of deception and misdirection!

Wolfgang
yeah, i know, the chicken ain't all that reliable either......but using a
map as tinder to start a fire upon which to roast a chicken makes a lot more
sense to me than vice versa.

"jeff" wrote in message
...
but will never be as accurate or useful as a functioning gps unit, imo.
getting within 100 yards of a destination in the woods or on the sea, jeff

or land....
I noticed just about all of the auto industry is jumping in on navigation
systems. I rode in a friends new car with built-in GPS, pretty hi-tech,
with voice activation.
I still carry road maps in my glove compartment.
-tom

Well, I hope somebody in ROFF bought, I's about ta make an offer!

Actually, your conversations schooled me a lot and i feel I am a much more
educated buyer.


john

"asadi" wrote in message
news
Well, I hope somebody in ROFF bought, I's about ta make an offer!

Actually, your conversations schooled me a lot and i feel I am a much more
educated buyer.


john


John,
here are a few features that I enjoy using that you may want to look into
when purchasing a gps unit:

1. backtrack feature = this will retrace your route.
2. track-up feature = orientation is always forward (upward) while the map
is rotated automatically. This way you don't have to turn the GPS unit.
3. input poi = (points of interest) or (waypoints) using longitude &
latitude
coordinates. This will save you memory from downloads.
4. the CD instructions = written instructions are vague. The CD goes into
detail, great explanations on how to use the gps unit.
5. battery life = mine goes to 18 hours.

good luck John in finding a gps unit.
-tom